Tackling Air Pollution at the Source: A Data-Driven Approach

Parati
3 min readOct 25, 2024

--

India is facing a severe air pollution crisis, with 91% of the population living in areas where air quality consistently exceeds WHO guidelines.

In 2019 alone, 1.67 million deaths were attributed to air pollution, accounting for 18% of total deaths in the country. With PM2.5 levels in 2022 reaching 58.7 µg/m³ — 11 times the WHO safe limit — India ranks as the 8th most polluted country globally.

To address this issue, it’s crucial to focus on reducing pollution at the source.

Breaking Down the Major Sources of Pollution India’s air pollution problem is multi-faceted, with major contributors ranging from vehicular emissions to agricultural practices:

  • Vehicular Emissions: In urban centers, particularly Delhi, vehicles contribute 20–40% of air pollution. This is exacerbated by rising vehicle ownership, with over 295 million registered vehicles in the country.
  • Industrial Emissions: Approximately 30% of India’s PM2.5 emissions come from industrial activities, with coal-fired power plants being the largest polluters.
  • Agricultural Practices: The burning of crop residue, especially in Punjab and Haryana, contributes 20–30% of northern India’s pollution during the winter months.
  • Household Emissions: The use of solid fuels for cooking in rural areas still contributes around 25% to outdoor air pollution.
  • Construction and Dust: Urban areas, particularly metros like Delhi and Mumbai, face high levels of PM10, 25–30% of which comes from construction and road dust.

Challenges in Reducing Air Pollution India faces several hurdles in tackling pollution. The country’s growing vehicle population drives up nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and particulate matter emissions, while crop burning remains a significant seasonal contributor to smog in northern India.

Industrial compliance is another challenge — only 40% of industrial units meet current emission standards, leading to unchecked pollutants entering the atmosphere. Moreover, urbanization continues to intensify, with over 600 million people expected to live in cities by 2030, further exacerbating pollution from construction activities and traffic.

Solutions: Targeting Key Sectors for Impact Focusing on reducing emissions at the source offers an effective way forward:

  • Industrial Emissions: Retrofitting older coal power plants with cleaner technologies can reduce CO₂ emissions by 7–10% and PM2.5 emissions by 25–40%. A shift to natural gas could lower emissions by up to 40%. Real-time monitoring of emissions could reduce industrial pollution by 20% in high-impact zones.
  • Vehicular Emissions: Electrifying India’s vehicle fleet is a critical step, with the government targeting 30% electric vehicles by 2030, which could cut NO₂ emissions by 35%. Expanding public transport by just 10% in cities like Delhi could reduce pollution by up to 20%. Cleaner fuel standards, such as Bharat Stage VI, have already reduced sulfur content in fuel by 80%.
  • Agricultural Emissions: Innovations like bio-decomposer technologies and stubble management machinery such as Happy Seeders are proving effective in reducing emissions from crop burning. In 2022, bio-decomposers were used on 100,000 hectares of land, cutting emissions by 15–20%.
  • Construction Dust: Anti-smog guns and sustainable building materials like fly ash and green cement can significantly lower dust levels at construction sites. Applying dust suppression technologies on urban roads has the potential to reduce PM10 levels by 30–40%.

Opportunities for Impact Startups India’s fight against air pollution presents a massive opportunity for impact-driven startups. Developing real-time monitoring systems for industrial emissions, innovative battery technologies for electric vehicles, AI-based traffic management systems, and affordable machinery for stubble management could greatly reduce pollution across sectors. In the construction sector, startups can focus on green building materials and dust suppression technologies to mitigate the impact of urbanization.

By targeting the sources of pollution and embracing innovation, India can move closer to a cleaner, healthier future. The solution lies in data-driven strategies, government support, and the efforts of forward-thinking startups

--

--

Parati
Parati

Written by Parati

Leading Business & Technology Consulting Firm In India

No responses yet